Wigan 0, Albion 1

Dale Stephens did not just hit a stylish winner.

He also hit the nail on the head about the difference between Albion this season compared to last.

A change in mindset away from home which could make all the difference in gaining promotion in a Championship that is even tougher, with Newcastle and Norwich for company.

After coming off the bench to stroke Albion to a victory they scarcely deserved, Stephens observed: "I don't think the mentality in the squad has changed. We still want to go one step further than we did last year.

"But when you have a run you want to keep it, you don't want to lose games.

"I think we are a bit more 'we want to go and win them'. We had a few too many draws last year, which affected us.

"We want to go out and try to win a few more games, rather than sitting back and taking a draw. I think that will push us over the line."

Albion did not lose last season until a week before Christmas, against Middlesbrough, the side that eventually pipped them for a top two spot.

Yet they are now just two points behind their total at the corresponding stage a year ago and bang on the traditional promotion target of two points per fixture.

They have won three of the last four away, that heartening first ever triumph at Hillsborough following a grind similar to this at Burton.

Three away matches had also been won at this stage last season but the next five were drawn and the next away victory did not arrive until mid-January.

So Albion are, to all intents and purposes, ahead of the game, with a much deeper squad as well. The limited part played to date by Stephens emphasises that.

 

He only missed one league game in the whole of last season. He has sat out five already this season and is no longer an automatic starter, even with Beram Kayal sidelined.

Oliver Norwood and Steve Sidwell (below), who unselfishly impressed again, are providing healthy competition but it is comforting when you can bring on a player of Stephens' quality to turn a game otherwise heading for a dull deadlock.

The Argus: Stephens demonstrated that quality with the technique for a precision finish threequarters of the way through the contest when Jiri Skalak laid the ball back to him 20 yards out.

He did not blast it so much as pick his spot, his first goal since the last of his seven last season and subsequent red card in that ill-fated promotion decider at Middlesbrough.

Albion have come a long way under Chris Hughton in the 18 months since Bolton-born and bred Stephens was also on target in their previous visit to Wigan, a 2-1 defeat.

He said: "The pitch was quite deceiving, a bit bobbly. Skaly's bobbled one into me on the edge of the box and I just tried to keep it down and pick a side. I caught it sweetly and it's rippled into the back of the net.

"My family are close by. They tend to come to the local games. My brother and a few friends were here. They should come down to the Amex more often. I might be able to score at home!"

That last happened in another promotion clash, against Burnley in April. An earlier one looms large now at the Amex on Saturday, against Hughton's old club Norwich.

Albion approach it with a week to prepare and in promotion form following a win due in no small measure to the manager's double substitution in the second half.

As well as replacing Norwood with Stephens, he brought on Jamie Murphy for customary matchwinner Anthony Knockaert, whose frustrating afternoon on the fringes might without Hughton's intervention have led to a costly fifth booking for the Frenchman and ban from the Norwich game.

Albion were brighter after the changes. They were poor in the first half, loose in possession, sometimes in dangerous areas, and fortunate not to be behind.

They would have been chasing without an outstanding reflex save by David Stockdale from Nick Powell's close range header from a corner routine.

There was no obvious indication of improvement when Hughton made his pivotal alterations.

He said: "It was about energy. Sometimes you can make substitutions at half-time but that's difficult because something can happen. Shane Duffy got an early whack and it could have got worse.

"I knew if we didn't vastly improve I would want to freshen things up a bit. It wasn't one of Anthony's best games, Olly Norwood neither, but I could have taken any one of a good few players off.

"It was a good opportunity to get Dale back on again and freshen things up a little bit and Jamie gives us fresh legs.

"I thought about Dale midweek (against Wolves) and then he had a slight (groin) problem, missed a day's training, then it changed my thinking a little bit."

The decisive strike by Stephens was significant not just because it secured two extra points but also because it was the first league scored from a midfielder or defender this season.

The Argus: Leading marksman Glenn Murray, like Knockaert, was subdued. Sam Baldock (above) spurned a good first half chance to register in four successive games for the first time in his career when he shot at keeper Adam Bogdan, while other previous scorer Tomer Hemed remained on the bench after two matches out with a thigh injury.

Everybody will need to chip in over the course of the campaign, with the Championship threatening to be as tight and congested as ever. Albion's was one of eight 1-0 wins on Saturday.

If their strong record at the Amex continues, turning more draws into victories on their travels will be the gold or, bearing in mind Newcastle, silver ticket.